Mobile wireless device with enhanced location feature

ABSTRACT

One or more in-range stationary stations are provided which are configured to transmit a signal received by an in-range mobile unit. An application is run on the in-range mobile unit, and, when run, comprises a destination input configured to present a destination graphical user input on a display screen of the in-range mobile unit along with information to thereby prompt a user to input textual information which the application receives and then uses to populate a set of geographic address fields representing a destination premises address. The application when run further includes calls to location services APIs, the calls including calls to cause an acquisition of a current location determination. The application converts the destination premises address to a destination geographic location using the same parameters used to represent the current location determination. The application when run provides an indication of the determined location of the in-range mobile unit in terms of a premises address. The current determined location is set to the destination premises address when a straight line distance between the destination geographic location and the acquired current location determination is less than a prescribed value.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The instant application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/099,849, filed Apr. 15, 2016, the disclosure of which is expresslyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Aspects of the disclosure relate to a communications system foracquiring data such as work time information. Other aspects relate tofraud prevention technologies. Still other aspects relate totechnologies for locating mobile devices.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices, e.g., smartphones and tablets, are being equipped withmore sophisticated mechanisms to acquire data about users. With certaindata acquisition systems, e.g., in systems for tracking work hours,features are also provided to prevent fraudulent data entry anddetermine the geographic location of the user at the time of data entry.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention may be directed to apparatus, a method, system, or device,or computer-readable media. Per one aspect of the disclosure, one ormore in-range stationary stations are provided which are configured totransmit a signal received by an in-range mobile unit. The in-rangemobile unit contains local location resources, including a GNSS (GlobalNavigation Satellite Systems) location portion and a non-GNSS locationportion. Location storage is provided on the in-range mobile unit, whichholds location information in accordance with a location informationmodeling format. Location services APIs (Application ProgrammingInterfaces) are contained in the in-range model unit, and configured tocommunicate between an application on the mobile unit on the one handand the local location resources on the other hand. The application isconfigured to be run on the in-range mobile unit, and, when run,comprises a destination input configured to present a destinationgraphical user input on a display screen of the in-range mobile unitalong with information to thereby prompt a user to input textualinformation which the application receives and then uses to populate aset of geographic address fields representing a destination premisesaddress. The application when run further includes calls to the locationservices APIs, the calls including calls to cause an acquisition of acurrent location determination from the non-GNSS location portion of thelocal location resources. The application when run converts thedestination premises address to a destination geographic location usingthe same parameters used to represent the current locationdetermination. The application when run provides an indication, to thein-range mobile unit's user via the unit's visual display, of thedetermined location of the in-range mobile unit in terms of a premisesaddress, the current determined location being set to the destinationpremises address when a straight line distance between the destinationgeographic location and the acquired current location determination isless than a prescribed value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will be described with reference to the followingdrawing FIGURES in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system provided to show several aspectsof the disclosure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various contexts, as electronic means are increasingly used tocommunicate, it is becoming more important for technologies to beprovided that are convenient, compatible with current devices, lesscostly, reliable, and easy to use. For example, with applicationsrequiring location services, appropriate accuracy is an issue. If amobile device user is inside a building, GPS which provides for 5-50meter accuracy is generally not an option. In state agency sponsoredparticipant-directed service models, it may be helpful to confirm that agiven service provider employee is at a scheduled location. See, e.g.,the time tracking system described in U.S. Published Application No.2014/0279672, the content of which is hereby expressly incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. Technologies important to timetracking in this context include, for example, automated locationdetermination, fraud prevention, and data acquisition. When determiningthe location of the mobile device (indicative of an employee's locationat the time of data input or data submission), appropriate accuracy,battery demands, and speed are issues that need to be taken intoaccount. Fraud prevention issues include making sure a given clock-in orclock-out submission is made when the employee is where he or she issupposed to be. Additional factors may increase the reliability of agiven data acquisition transaction, including the ability to obtain andassociate a contemporaneous approval indication.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, a data acquisition system isprovided, which includes a mobile wireless device 10, stationarystations 12 (e.g., base stations or WiFi access points), and a timetracking system 32. The data acquisition system, in the illustratedembodiment, comprises a time tracking system used in the context of asystem, for example, as disclosed in the above-referenced '672 publishedpatent application. Thus, it can be used to support state agencysponsored participant-directed service models. Specifically, the exampleembodiments herein involve the submission of clock-in and clock-outtimes by an employee, at times with approval indications added by aparticipant.

One aspect of the disclosure involves an approach to use and refinelocation services, to determine if a given employee is where he or sheis supposed to be—especially at the moment the employee enters andsubmits a clock-in or clock-out submission. The employee is visiting,typically caring for, a participant at a given location which may be theparticipant's home, the home of the participant's family member, or acare facility remote from the home. The location services accessible onthe employee's mobile device (a smartphone or tablet) may be used toobtain information about whether the employee is where he or she issupposed to be (the scheduled destination, stored in a database that ispart of the time tracking system) when clocking in or clocking out.However, the scheduled destination and the location determinationprovided by the mobile device may not be easily reconcilable. Forexample, the scheduled destination may be at a particular apartment in aresidential building, while the location determination coincides with adifferent street or random location 200 meters away. Employingtechnologies with increased accuracy may decrease the disparity betweenthese two locations; however, at a cost, e.g., in reduced battery lifeand slower time to first fix (TTFF) while not necessarily providing amore reliable indication of whether the employee is where he or she issupposed to be. Meanwhile, users of the system, at the mobile device andat the system side, are presented with ambiguous and complicatedinformation, making it harder to use the system and the data.

Referring now the drawing in greater detail, a system may be provided asshown in FIG. 1. One or more in-range stationary stations 12 areprovided, that are in range of the mobile wireless device used by theemployee, and the participant when approving or verifying an entry ofthe employee. The stationary stations transmit signals and data that canbe received by mobile unit 10 and used thereby for locationdetermination, and may comprise BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) beacons, LANrouters (e.g., WiFi access points), or LTE network base stations.

The in-range mobile wireless device comprises, e.g., a smartphone ortablet, and contains location resources, including a GNSS (GlobalNavigation Satellite Systems) location portion (e.g., GPS or assistedGPS) and a non-GNSS location portion. These location portions (depictedin FIG. 1 as location services and devices 26) may be part of the samelocation services chip or chipset, separate chips or chipsets, orcircuitry and/or code configured to operate as part of the mobile unit.The non-GNSS location portion may employ a BLE beacon location service,a OTDOA (Observed Time Difference Of Arrival) approach, enhanced cellID, uplink UTDOA (Uplink Time Difference Of Arrival), and/or RF patternmatching.

Location storage (device storage 24 as shown in FIG. 1) is provided onthe mobile device 10, holding location information. The locationinformation may be held in accordance with a location informationmodeling format, such as GML (Geographic Markup Language) or NVML(Navigation Markup Language).

Location services APIs 20 (Applicant Programming Interfaces) arecontained in the mobile unit 10 and configured to communicate between anapplication of the mobile unit (an employee time tracking application,in the illustrated embodiment) on the one hand and the local locationresources 26 on the other hand. APIs 20 may also facilitatecommunication with external location resources 28. Devices forming partof location services and devices 26 may include, for example, a WiFireceiver, an accelerometer, and one or more radio communicationsmodules. External location resources may include floor plans and maps,field maps of WiFi, BLE, and LTE signals, current field measurements,and comparisons of reference maps to current measurements.

The application (employee time tracking application) is configured torun on the mobile unit, and, when run, comprises a destination inputconfigured to present a destination graphical user input on display 22along with information (text) to thereby prompt a user to input textualinformation which the application receives and then uses to populate aset of geographic address fields representing a destination premisesaddress. Those address fields may be residential address fields, e.g.,street number, street, unit, city, and state. In one embodiment, thegraphical user input is in accordance with an approved work schedule,and accesses destination information from a database which may be remoteand part of time tracking system 32. The destination may be selectedfrom prestored data in an approved previously provided work schedule.

The application when run further includes calls to the location servicesAPIs, the calls including calls to cause an acquisition of a currentlocation determination from the non-GNSS location portion of the locallocation resources 28. In one embodiment, there is no involvement of theGNSS location portion.

The application when run performs (among or as part of other processes)the process shown as steps 50-60 in FIG. 1. In an act 50, thedestination address is obtained and converted to a destinationgeographic location. This is done to represent the destination with thesame parameters used to represent the current location determination.Then in act 52, at clock-in or clock-out, the current locationdetermination is acquired. At this time, two things also happen. At act58, the application presents prompts on display 22 to obtain an approvalsignature and/or PIN from a participant for a given clock-in orclock-out submission. At act 54, a determination is made regarding thestraight line distance between the acquired current location and thedestination geographic location. If that distance is within a certainrange (100 meters in one embodiment; 200 meters in another), and thereis not another destination for the employee or another employee in thetime tracking system that is also within range, then the processproceeds to act 56. At act 56, the current determined location is set tothe destination address.

It is possible that there could be plural destination addresses in thedatabase that are within range, for example, which could happen if thereare participants in different apartments of the same building. When thishappens, an indication is sent along with the current determinedlocation to indicate that there is ambiguity, meaning that the currentdetermined location could be one of two different destinations, one ofwhich might not be the scheduled destination for the employee doing thetime entry. Time tracking system 32 may be provided to initiate aninquiry process by which an administrator or the participant clarifywhether the employee was indeed at the proper scheduled destination atthe time of the time entry submission.

At act 60, the time entry submission is associated with the currentdetermined location and with the approval data (an image file of thepenned signature and/or the PIN of the participant).

The determination of the determined location is concurrent with thesubmission of the signature and with the entry of the time (clock-in orclock-out). In one embodiment, these all occur within a window of 1second.

The signature of the approver (a participant) is obtained by capturingwith a stylus or finger tip creating a signature image within an area ofan interactive screen of display 22. In one embodiment, a designedsignature area (e.g., box) is shown on display 22 within which theparticipant can create the signature.

The claims as originally presented, and as they may be amended,encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements,equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments andteachings disclosed herein, including those that are presentlyunforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise fromapplicants/patentees and others.

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus comprising: an application configureto, when it is run, interact with a mobile unit, the mobile unitcontaining local location resources, including a GNSS (Global NavigationSatellite Systems) location portion and a non-GNSS location portion;location storage coupled to the application, the location storageholding location information in accordance with a location informationmodeling format; location services configured to provide locationinformation to the application and to communicate with the locationresources; the application, when run, comprising, a destination inputconfigured to present a destination graphical user input on a displayscreen of the in-range mobile unit along with information to therebyprompt a user to indicate information which the application uses topopulate a set of geographic address fields representing a destinationpremises address; the application, when run, communicating with at leasta portion of the local location resources to obtain a current locationdetermination; the application, when run, determining a destinationgeographic location corresponding to the current location determination;and the application, when run, designating as the current determinedlocation of the mobile unit in terms of a premises address, the currentdetermined location being set to the destination premises address whenthe destination geographic location is determined to correspond to theacquired current location determination despite being separated by adistance.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprisingstationary stations in-range to the mobile unit.
 3. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the location storage comprises internalmemory of the mobile unit.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the location storage comprises external memory.
 5. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the location information modeling formatcomprises GML (Geographic Markup Language).
 6. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the location information modeling format comprisesNVML (Navigation Markup Language).
 7. The apparatus according to claim1, wherein the mobile unit comprises a smartphone.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the mobile unit comprises a tablet.